TOP STORIES

April 17, 1997

PHA building salvage deemed a bargain

PECOS, April 17, 1997 - Salvaging a 4,500-square foot barracks building
shell by spending $78,000 would be a bargain, the Pecos Housing
Authority board decided Wednesday.

Architect Shane Sigrist told the board that the cost to demolish the
burned-out building would cost $30,000. By adding a roof and floor and
removing the inner walls, PHA can have a large community building and
maintenance building at small cost, he said.

The maintenance shop, garage and storage would occupy 1,800 square feet
in the back of the building. The remainder would be a shell that could
be finished, wired and plumbed later for use as a community building or
administrative offices, Sigrist said.

The immediate cost would average $8 per square foot, he said, "extremely
inexpensive."

He proposed including the building in the 1996 Comprehensive Improvement
Assistance Program specifications as an alternate construction bid.
Should the bid for rehabilitation of HUD apartments be low enough to
leave $78,000 for the maintenance building, then it could be included.

"If we have enough money, we would also want to spend a little more to
get the vacated maintenance shop brought up to usable standard for a few
dollars more," said architect Ed Vaughn.

Board chairman Frank Perea said his only concern is that HUD is
supplying the grant for the rehabilitation, and the old building is part
of the airbase complex that was mostly demolished.

Vaughn said his contact at HUD approved use of HUD funds to repair the
building, so long as Pecos Housing Authority holds title to it.

Perea said that all the airbase property was deeded to PHA by the city
of Pecos several years ago. He asked that a title search be conducted to
ensure the deed was filed.

HUD tenant Wanda Capriotti met with the board concerning broken windows
and vandalism at her apartment.

Executive Director Nellie Gomez said she believes Capriotti's
14-year-old son may have caused the damage. Capriotti said neighbor boys
broke the windows.

In any event, her son is now living with his grandparents and will not
be allowed in the apartment, Capriotti said.

Perea and board members Ray Golden and Ken Winkles agreed to ban the boy
from the premises. Should he return, Capriotti would be evicted, they
said.

Board members Yvonne Martin and Debbie Flores were absent. When Golden
had to leave, Perea adjourned the meeting and set another for next week
to handle the remainder of the agenda.

Tip leads to arrest of local man

PECOS, April 17, 1997 - Acting on a tip that a local man was selling
marijuana out of his vehicle and home, officers from the Reeves County
Sheriff's Department and the Pecos Police Department arrested Larry
Ortega, 41, last night, according to a sheriff's department spokesman.

At 9:25 p.m., about six officers, two from the sheriff's department and
four Pecos policemen, executed a narcotics search warrant at Ortega's
home at 606 S. Mulberry.

There the officers found 3/4 of a pound of marijuana in Ortega's home
and vehicle, according to Clay McKinney a narcotics investigator with
the sheriff's department.

Ortega was arrested and taken to the Reeves County Detention Center.
He was charged with a state jail felony which is often applied to an
arrest for possession of marijuana over four ounces but less than five
pounds, McKinney said.

"We had information from a confidential informant that Ortega was
keeping and distributing marijuana from his vehicle and residence,"
McKinney said.
Ortega had no record of previous arrests, according to McKinney.

Not all sports advertising benefits booster club

PECOS, April 17, 1997 - Calendar ads are O.K., but seat cushion ads are
not, Pecos Eagles' head football coach Mike Belew and booster club
president Dennis Thorp are telling local businesses.

The school and boosters began last year to sanction specific companies
to sell advertising space on athletic-related items around Pecos. Both
the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah athletic department and the boosters receive a
share of the sales on those items.

Belew said this morning that representatives from Athletic World would
be calling local businesses to solicit ads for the 1997 Pecos Eagles'
football calendar. "They are authorized through me to sell advertising,"
the Eagles' coach said.

However, Thorp said on Wednesday another company, which has been calling
area businesses seeking to sell seat cushions, is not authorized to do
so by either the school district or the booster club.

"I spent an hour with the woman on the phone asking her to please to
sell in Pecos," Thorp said. "I told her we're a small community and the
booster club is trying to market them ourselves, but obviously she
didn't stop.

"If you buy from them, they keep all the money, and we don't share in
any of it," he added.

Thorp said he's also trying to get some more members in the club before
the start of the 1997-98 school year.

"Right now, the club is almost inactive, because we have about 10-15
members, and only a few show up for the meeting," he said. "Hopefully
after the (PHS sports) banquet, we'll have a meeting and we'll try to
set up something to attract some more people."

Drug busts increased by Border Patrol

Return to topMARFA, April 17, 1997 - Border Patrol officers apprehended fewer illegal
aliens in the month of March this year than for March of last year but
narcotic seizures were up, according to a report from the U.S. Border
Patrol Sector Headquarters in Marfa.

A total of 1,358 illegal aliens were located and processed for removal
in March, the report said.
Nearly 5,000 pounds of marijuana were seized, in 34 separate cases, with
a street value of $3,409,731.

Border Patrol officers at Sierra Blanca Station conducted an enhanced
check point operation called "Gearjammer" during the month. The patrol
increased the number of personnel at the station and conducted thorough
inspections of vehicles, especially 18 wheeler tractor/trailer
combinations, eastbound on Interstate 10.

From March 17 until the 23rd, 66 agents with 22 canine inspection teams
operated 24-hours-a-day at the station.

The operation netted five narcotics smuggling cases involving about a
ton of marijuana valued at $1,408,459.

Twelve U.S. citizens were arrested during the operation and eight
vehicles were seized, valued at $174,300.

A total of 114 illegal aliens from Mexico, Australia, El Salvador,
Guatemala and Honduras were arrested during the operation including a
Mexican National arrested for auto-theft and transporting 28 other
nationals in the stolen van.

Juvenile board to review stats

Return to topPECOS, April 17, 1997 - Twenty juveniles were detained by the county in
March, according to a report from the Reeves County Juvenile Court.

The Reeves County Juvenile Board will meet at 11 a.m. tomorrow on the
third floor of the Reeves County Court House.

Agenda items include reports on Juvenile Probation Services, the
Juvenile Detention Center and Community Corrections Projects.

Juvenile board members will also discuss approval of a monthly fee for
administrative probationers.

A closed session is also included in the agenda.

Following the closed session, board members will consider approval of
progressive sanction for a JPO position.

Twenty juveniles were detained in by the county in March, 10 from Reeves
County and 10 from outside the county, according to the monthly juvenile
report on the detention facility from the Probation Department of the
Reeves County Juvenile Court.

In March, four detention hearings were held, one hearing to modify the
disposition of a case was waived. There were no revocation, adjudication
or disposition hearings. An additional motion to modify the disposition
of a case was filed.

Twenty juveniles are currently on official probation with the county,
one is on courtesy supervision and seven have informal conference
adjustments to probation.

No juveniles were committed to the Texas Youth Commission in March and
only one has been committed so far this year.

Two juveniles had their cases dismissed in March, one was placed outside
the home and eight juveniles paid money for restitution.

Twelve juveniles were referred to the court, seven by the Pecos Police
Department, one by the school district and four by other sources.

Of the 12 referrals, 10 were male and two were female. Of these 10 were
Hispanic and two were Caucasian.

Two were referred to the court for violation of a court order, one for
failure to attend school, five for possession of under two ounces of
marijuana, on for possession of a controlled substance (Cocaine), one
for indecent exposure, one for evading arrest and one for the
unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

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